AUGUSTA — The Brewer boys basketball team is back in the Class A North final. And the Witches did it in record-breaking fashion.
The No. 1 Witches broke an A North tournament record by making 14 3-pointers on the way to an 83-36 win over No. 5 Cony in a semifinal game on Wednesday night at the Augusta Civic Center. The previous record was 12, set by Hampden Academy in 2011.
“Our goal the whole time was to get back to where we were last year and it feels good to be back (in the regional final),” said Brewer guard Evan Nadeau, who led the team with 20 points.
Brewer (19-1) will meet No. 3 Skowhegan in the regional final on Friday at 8:45 p.m. in Augusta. Brock Flagg scored 16 points and added 11 rebounds, while Brady Saunders added 15 points for Brewer. The Witches reached the A North final last season, falling 68-58 to eventual Class A champion Nokomis.
“It’s great (to get back),” Brewer head coach Ben Goodwin said. “These guys worked very hard last season and this season to get this done. I’m glad they got a chance, and we’ll see what happens (in the regional final).”
Cony finished 12-8. Parker Sergent led the Rams with 10 points, while Kam Douin and Dom Napolitano each added six points.
Brewer dominated the game from the start, getting the jump on Cony with a 13-o run to take a 27-10 lead by the end of the first quarter. An 8-0 run helped lengthen the lead to 46-21 by halftime. Flagg scored all of his 16 points in the first half, with Nadeau adding 16 of his 20 points.
“We just wanted to play our game and run our offense,” Nadeau said. “Limit what (Cony) does well. We limited their 3-point shooting, their transition threes. We watched a ton of film and worked really hard in practice. I think that helped us get the win.”
“We just got to get back to playing our kind of basketball,” Goodwin said. “Moving the ball a little bit, getting our open shots and playing hard-nose defense. I thought we did a much better job of that tonight.”
The Brewer starters were pulled for a time in the third quarter, but re-entered the game late as Brewer neared the 3-point record. Saunders hit the record-breaking shot on a deep 3-pointer near the Brewer bench early in the fourth quarter.
Brewer senior Evan Nadea left, (1), senior Brock Flagg and Cony junior Alex Fournier chase down a loose ball during a Class A North boys basketball semifinal Wednesday at the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“Coach and the fans had been telling us that we were two (shots) away from beating the record,” Nadeau said. “So we were like, ‘Coach, c’mon, put the starters back in.’ When the third quarter ended, he said, ‘You have a minute and a half to do it.’ Thankfully, we got it done.
“It’s awesome (to break the record), we shoot so many threes in practice,” Nadeau continued. “It’s awesome for it to pay off.”
The Witches went on a 12-0 run in the final period to seal the victory.
Brewer earned a season sweep on Cony. The Witches beat the Rams 94-44 on Dec. 22 in Augusta.
“I’m super proud of our guys,” Cony head coach Isaiah Brathwaite said. “Everybody counted us out and everybody didn’t really count on us getting this far. We played for one another and played hard. It was great (getting to the semifinals), but it just wasn’t our night.”
Brewer has split its regular season games against Skowhegan, winning 60-37 on Dec. 9 before falling 49-48 on Feb. 3.
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